Well-bucket



PATENTBD JAN. 5, l904.

0. A. CRANE. WE'LL BUCKET APPLICATION FILED NGV. 9, 19 O3 no KODELQ INVENTOR. I [Zakswtffl 62am: B)

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UNITED STATES Patented. January 5, 19040 PATENT EEIC WELL-BUCKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,704, dated January 5, 1904.

Application filed November 9, 1903. Serial No. 180,381. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE A. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVarren, in the county of Trumbull and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Well-Buckets; and I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in well-buckets; and the invention consists in a bucket designed to draw water from open wells and which is in a tilted position as it descends and adapted to be mechanically dipped upon striking the water, so that the bucket will promptly fill and be ready to be drawn without further eifort, all as hereinafter fully set forth.

Now-I am of course aware that it is not broadly new to make a well-bucket with a bail engaged upon the side of the bucket in such manner as will promote tilting or dipping of the bucket when it strikes the water, and at least some such buckets have had their bails attached approximately near to or down toward the middle of the bucket, but still high enough to leave the counterbalance engravity below the pivot-point but in all such cases the bucket always held an erectposition 0r hung with an even poise on the bail whether full or empty. My invention differs from buckets of this kind in the essential particular that it is equipped with means to mechanically sustain it normally or when empty and suspended in a tilted or inclined position. Then as it holds this position relatively, as seen in Fig. 1, and having the baildown a ways on the side of the bucket as the preferable but not necessary arrangement it will strike the water in such tilted position and upon striking will instantly turn and fill under the further pull of the spring. In all this operation no extra effort is required by the person drawing water to get the bucket or pail full, and further tiltingfor filling follows naturally under the pull of the spring and the tendency of the bucket to dip when it is lowered in an inclined position.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a well-bucket with bail and tilting attachment in one of the many forms the said attachment may assume and be within the scope and spirit of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are views of modifications of the invention.

As thus shown in Fig. I, A represents the bucket, which may be a wooden, metal, or other kind of bucket and of any preferred shape, and B is the bail. Ears a, with offsets or shoulders a, are provided for bail B and secured to the bucket somewhat below its upper edge in this instance, but not necessarily. If higher up, a stronger spring would be required. This, however, leaves the bucket with a natural tendency to right itself on its bail when suspended, and such tendency is contravened and the bucket is suspended and held in an inclined position by means of a spring S, engaged at one end upon the side of the bucket below its pivot on the bail and at its other end connected with the extremity of arm I), forming an extension of bail B in this instance. Arm 6 lies and turns in a plane substantially parallel to the side of the bucket and fairly close thereto, so as not to be objection able or in the Way, and the spring S is connected therewith and with the bucket in such relation that when the bottom of the bucket strikes the Water the spring will exert its further tension and cause the bucket to tilt still farther and dip beneath the water.

Now it is manifest that the invention shown in Fig. 1 and thus described is capable of a great many constructions which will'give a similar effect and which will both carry the bucket in a tilted or inclined position in its descent and while empty and mechanically promote its further tilting and cause it to dip when it strikes the water. This ismy in vention or the purpose and efiect I seek to obtain, and I am not partial to any particular way of accomplishing the result. Any one of the ways shown or others may be used. When the bucket is filled and raised from the water, it at once rights itself and comes up even and full, as it would if no tilting mechanism were employed. This is because the gravity of the load on the bail for thetime overcomes the pull of the spring. Of course effects will depend somewhat on the strength of spring used, and the spring might be variously connected and related here or there and serve my purpose. Thus in the rii modification Fig.2 I show a spring S fixed to an arm b, as in Fig. 1, but is bent up to said bail and lies in a parallel plane thereto. The car a is relatively higher in this view than in Fig. 1,and the springis carried around to a different position on the bucket necessarily. In Fig. 3 spring S engages an eye or loop 19 in bail B above its pivot on the bucket.

In each and all the foregoing views, as well as in all modifications within the scope of my invention, the spring arrangement and tension should be such as to carry the bucket in a partially-tilted position when empty and in a substantially balanced or even position when full, and it is of the essence of the invention to have a construction that will give or permit both these conditions. Evidently both the strength and the arrangement of the spring will have to do with the result in any and all cases. I

Any suitable rope or cable 0 may be emloyed, as usual.

What I claim is- 1. As a new article of manufacture and sale, a bucket and a bail thereon, and spring mechanism interposed between the bail and the bucket to cause the bucket to hang in a tilted position on the bail, substantially as described.

2. In well-buckets, a bucket and a bail thereon and a spring connecting said parts, said spring arranged to promote the tilting and dipping of the bucket when it strikes the water, substantially as described.

3. In a well-bucket, a bucket and a bail thereon, in combination with a spring mechanism connecting said parts and constructed and arranged to carry the bucket in an inclined position on the bail when empty and to permit the bucket to assume an upright position when filled, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE A. CRANE.

Witnesses:

R. B. MosER, O. A. SELL. 

